New £1m bridge for port’s housing estate

A swing bridge which cost £1m to make and weighs 27 tons has arrived in Fleetwood to provide a key link between a new riverside housing estate and other amenities.

The bridge, which is 27 metres long and three metres wide, will provide a pedestrian and cycleway link between Redrow Homes’ Harbour Village estate and the harbour, Freeport shopping outlet village and the town’s high street.

Operations like this take time and intricate planning to make sure that the process goes smoothly from the moment it leaves its construction base to the moment it arrives at its destination and is installed

It took some precision planning to deliver the bridge, which is seen as a key infrastructure improvement for the area.

Police forces and local councils were involved in the operation to transport the bridge from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, where it was built, to Fleetwood which is just over 100 miles away.

The bridge has been paid for by Redrow as part of the planning conditions for the housing scheme.

Chris Mills, technical director for Redrow Homes, said: “This has been the result of months of design and planning to create this specialised structure, and to transport it from the manufacturers to its destination.

“Operations like this take time and intricate planning to make sure that the process goes smoothly from the moment it leaves its construction base to the moment it arrives at its destination and is installed. It is a crucial part of Harbour Village and it is both exciting and satisfying to see it in place.”

The bridge was constructed by specialist engineering firm Qualter Hall & Company Ltd from Barnsley.

From Harbour Village it will cross the Wyre Marina at the Fleetwood harbour entrance channel on the River Wyre, and will provide pedestrian and cycle links from Fleetwood town centre via Dock Street, Queen’s Terrace and Station Road through to the housing estate and nearby nature reserve.

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